A new book has claimed that Prince Harry "stormed off in a huff" after a royal fan's Christmas request.
The Duke of Sussex had an on-off relationship with Cressida Bonas for two years after the pair were first introduced by Harry’s cousin Princess Eugenie. Ultimately, Cressida reportedly couldn’t settle with the notion of life as a royal wife and so the pair split up.
But, as reported by the Mirror, a recent biography has claimed that there were other reasons which may have contributed to the romance’s demise. It partly occurred with a reported incident with a royal fan one Christmas.
Author of The Palace Papers, Tina Brown, recounted the incident, one of two they said that led to the couple going their separate ways. Over the festive period, Harry and Cressida were staying in the country with Cressida’s half-sister and other members of the family.
They had decided to go to a small pub in Kidlington, just outside Oxford, for lunch and had managed to secure a table at the back of the establishment. Ms Brown wrote about an incident that happened which led to the Prince storming off in a huff after enjoying their food.
She wrote: “Suddenly as they were leaving, this quite elderly, sweet-looking gentleman came out and said: ‘Oh, sir, so sorry, I know it’s Christmas time, but could I just take a photograph to give to my wife who isn’t well?’
“And so Cressida opened her mouth and said: ‘Oh, of course.’ And Harry said: ‘Get out of my way’ and went bright red in the face and stormed off in a huff.”
The author has claimed the shocking incident was one of two similar outbursts. The second occurred when the then couple were on their way to a restaurant in London on Valentine’s Day.
In her book, The Daily Express reported she wrote: “A family friend told me she knew the relationship wouldn’t last when there was a blow-up on Valentine’s Day. En route to the restaurant, they were driving down Kensington High Street when Harry got word that there was a photographer lying in wait.
“He slammed on the brakes, did a spin turn in the middle of the street and gunned it back to Nott Cott for a Valentine’s night of pizza.”
The author said these incidents gave Cressida “serious qualms” about sharing her life with Harry and the burgeoning actress was also concerned about the ramifications marrying Harry would have on her career. Following this, she was reportedly further spooked when photographs of William and Kate touring Australia and New Zealand with the then eight-month-old Prince George.
She was said to find it “unimaginable” to drag a future baby into the royal life. But before they split, according to The Palace Papers, Cressida was the first to encourage Harry to speak to a professional therapist about his mental health.
One mutual friend of the Prince and Cressida’s even reportedly said that after they split, he wrote her a letter thanking her for pushing him towards therapy. The pair stayed friends, with Cressida even in attendance at Harry’s 2018 wedding to Meghan Markle.
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